Letís face it, we were all Wallys at one point, I hate to think of how naive I was when I started boating. So, I was out by the lake doing some work the other day and noticed that whenever I heard a boat going by on the lake and I looked up I could identify if it was a Wally or not in just a glance, and sometimes I could tell just by the sounds of them going by. I started thinking about the things I was using to make the Wally call, and here is my quick top 20 list off the top of my head in no special order and no harm meant if you do these things or disagree, its just my opinion.

1. Bumpers hanging off the side of the boat while underway.
2. Swim ladder down while underway (on outboards and I/Os)
3. Driver standing up while driving. This is almost a rule with I/Os, for some reason almost every driver of an I/O stands when driving.
4. Loud poor sounding music, usually poor choice of music as well. Note, if you are going to play Dixie Chicks or Whitney Houston please donít turn the crappy sounding stereo up so loud!
5. A lot of yelling and yee has from the boat when the rider attempts some sort of "trick"
6. Power turns
7. Boat weighted very wrong. For example wakeboarding with most of the ballast in back so the nose is up high, causing the driver to have to stand up. Or, attempting to surf with not enough side weight.
8. Driver gunning the throttle when trying to get riders up, I watch this happen all day, then they canít get up so the driver does a power turn to get back to them.
9. Speed way to fast/slow for surfing/wakeboarding
10. Driver not following obvious laws such as no wake inside buoys, or not passing other boats on right.
11. Driver uses a hard reverse every time they pick up a rider. I do this a bit if I accidentally overshoot, but I watch some always pull in hot, then use reverse really hard to slow down.
12. Surfing in the center of the lake throwing large consistent swells towards both shores.
13. Wakeboarding on a diagonal across lake, or general inconsistent direction so other riders cannot avoid their wake.
14. Passengers outside the seating area while underway/wakeboarding/surfing. I watch the cops write tickets for this all the time, usually its people lying on the sun deck while someone is surfing, the other day i saw i guy actually standing on the swim platform while someone was surfing.
15. Narrow stance binding mount on wakeboard, or directional stance, or unknown random stance that was presumably setup when they ordered the shrink wrapped board/bindings/rope/video from West Marine or Overtons.
16. Wakeboarding with over/under ski grip
17. Wakeboarding anyway when conditions are poor/unridable
18. Doing a wakeboard trick every time you pass another boat, presumably hoping to impress them. Air chair guys do this on our lake, not sure why.
19. Unorganized at boat ramp. There are probably 50 more boat ramp ones, but unorganized sums it up.
20. Riding with no vest or non-CGA vests for no reason. Non-CGA just gives the cops a reason to pull you over, I have nothing against them.
21. For lakes that require an orange rider down flag, mounting it permanently up. This will also draw in the cops.

28. Working on the boat that hasn't been running in a year to try to start it while it's on the trailer, in the water at the bottom of the 2-lane ramp when there's a line to launch. Push that dang thing off the trailer, tie it up at the dock and work all day if you want. I swear, 1/3 the time we see this going on.

Boaters make allot of mistakes and the learning curve is steep. Nothing but wheel time makes you better. And only time and experience can produce maturity. Not class association or boosting huge air into the flats.

I have also had D bags drive straight behind my beginner child skiers, Wave runners jump me endangering my rider and likely every other complaint you have encountered or could dream of. I didn't read the list because it's the same list list that gets posted ever 3 months on every boating site on the internet.

Temperament and maturity is what we need as a group.
Example:
Last night we went for a sunset butter run at Keywadin and had some good sets in until a guy with an I/O filled a tube and started to run hard donuts right in the middle of the ski area.
My son threw a tantrum (the kid kind) and started to act like "that guy".
I said watch how this is done son>

I dropped my rider, pulled him in and waited for the tuber to change riders. He did, I approached him and said:
Quote: Hi! we have some really good conditions right now and some young riders, would you mind picking one end of the area to ride while we ride the other?
His response? "Sure! I didn't think of that! No problem! Which end would you like?"
And we all rode happily ever after.

meh, disagree with some, i worked on my boat today to fix a battery problem, got it fixed just in time cause the water was almost up to the engine eeeep! got the bilge working, so i took it out just to go jump in the water and cool off and test it, didnt have much time so i left all my bouy's on the one side from being docked...

lol - you must have seen me - my buddies and I do this all the time and these guys are excellent riders/tons of hours behind a boat. We board when the water is nice and fish off the swim step after that.

If you stop short of the launch blocking the road to get to the 5 launches next to you, get out of your vehicle, and proceed to ready your boat for a day on the water after you change into your on water atire. You are probably a WALLY!

29.When you back your trailer into the water next to the dock,your wife is waiting 50 yards away and some deaf ,dumb and blind pinball player pulls his boat right behind your trailer.AFTER you give him the look he looks back and sees your boat and says i'll only be a minute i got to get my trailer.That's what they make condoms for,to prevent that from happening too often.

#33 - Following to close directly behind you while you are towing a boarder

I definitely have had my Wally moments, but some people who own and drive boats on lakes truly should not be out there for everyones safety. Why California does not make people get a boat license and learn the rules of the water I have never figured out!

#34- Everyone in the boat is wearing a life jacket, including the driver

Hahahaha, funny story..........
So we're out on the lake with some friends withour X2 and their newly acquired 'Bu LSV. I'm on my buddy's 'Bu wakeboarding and the ladies are hangin out in our boat having a cocktail. Our other friends had just bought "the world's ugliest SeaDoo", big ole 23 footer deck boat with a kiddy pool in the bow, no kidding!
Well one of the girls looks up, sees the big Doo coming towards them. Half a dozen blue Walmart lifejackets present and accounted for and the skipper is wearing one of those half safari, half Gilligan hats with the strings that hold the sides up. Got his sunglasses tethered to his head with a floating whatever you call it that holds your glasses to your head.
They are kind of freakin out, because all the guys are on the other skiboat and they have a couple kids and probably wouldn't pass a breathalyzer. Boat keeps coming towrds them, pulls up and stops......It's our buddy Steve and the rest of his family! Everyone, I mean everyone from age 2 to age 60 has on a blue life vest!

when younger out with my buddies ive tubed on butter (everything is better on butter), no other boats around though cuz i know how much i liked skiing on butter. ive always been mindful of others.

while i agree that there are for sure guys out there that are less "experienced" and some that are just unsafe due to stupidity or not knowing, we who know should try to help them due to them prolly just not knowing. and some of us should take it a bit less serious. i know for myself i for sure did some wally things until i learned through watching others, trail/error, and from being with people that knew the ropes.

i remember taking a buddy out to board for the first time and it was my turn. he pulls me up and starts doing "S's". i drop the handle and ask him why on the turn around. "oh my bad man, i didnt know". think the moral is obvious here.

One thing that is a growing trend where we ride is people "learning to surf" with not enough weight in the boat and thinking they have to drive in a big arc to get a good wave. we actually tried to help a boat out one day and give them a little direction on that one because it was messing up everything from the water to them actually driving all over the place, and we ride on a river so there's no room for that. Turns out they "new what they were doing" and i should have just "minded my own business." I guess they wouldn't listen to us because no body on our boat had taken enough steroids to converse with them. Then about 5 mins later its fun watching my buddy behind my boat throw a whirly off their roller, especially considering they were in a brand new 80K boat and we were in an 03 response lx.

I also get a kick out of the people in these really expensive brand new wakeboard boats that anchor out all day with no wakeboard in the racks. But to each his own. its their money.

- Thinking your cool just because you have a wakeboard boat when actually you are really just a poser with enough money to buy a 60K+ boat. Basically, masked douche bags which is about 50% of all wakeboarders I've encountered and I've been wakeboarding since 1996 or 1997(These days I mainly wakeskate). If your a douche, no matter what you own you'll still be a douche.

One thing that is a growing trend where we ride is people "learning to surf" with not enough weight in the boat and thinking they have to drive in a big arc to get a good wave. we actually tried to help a boat out one day and give them a little direction on that one because it was messing up everything from the water to them actually driving all over the place, and we ride on a river so there's no room for that. Turns out they "new what they were doing" and i should have just "minded my own business." I guess they wouldn't listen to us because no body on our boat had taken enough steroids to converse with them. Then about 5 mins later its fun watching my buddy behind my boat throw a whirly off their roller, especially considering they were in a brand new 80K boat and we were in an 03 response lx.

I also get a kick out of the people in these really expensive brand new wakeboard boats that anchor out all day with no wakeboard in the racks. But to each his own. its their money.

Great story. There are some guys in an Xstar on the lake I go to that are trying to surf all the time. They drive in a complete circle about 60-75 yards around, I'm not kidding a circle. Sometimes you have to just shake your head and head elsewhere. If someone is that stupid it's not even worth a converstation.

I don't get #20, so you're a wally if you wear a comp vest when not competing in a comp? Not everyone on here rides on public lakes where there are cops and most people buy the non-cga vests because they are lighter and more comfortable than the cg approved ones.

I also get a kick out of the people in these really expensive brand new wakeboard boats that anchor out all day with no wakeboard in the racks. But to each his own. its their money.

I agree with the other portion of your story, but when we head to the river for the weekend, there comes a point in the day that it is just ****ty to ride, wind blowing, etc. At that point we just leave our boards on shore, anchor and party. But if it will help, when were done riding, i'll leave my boat on the dock and take my sisters bayliner to the sandbar.

I don't get #20, so you're a wally if you wear a comp vest when not competing in a comp? Not everyone on here rides on public lakes where there are cops and most people buy the non-cga vests because they are lighter and more comfortable than the cg approved ones.

I think he pretty clearly qualifies that in his post.
"20. Riding with no vest or non-CGA vests for no reason. Non-CGA just gives the cops a reason to pull you over, I have nothing against them."

IMO this is kind of one of those things that can be just stupid, but not a Wally. Obviously you know what your doing on or behind a boat. The problem is some of the vests out now days are super comfortable... and give zero protection. I was at a competition in Birmingham recently & 2 guys cracked ribs wearing outlaw vests that has almost no padding in them.
I wear a Rubber Jungle vest most of the times in the summer. Even showed it to cops at one point. It's Australian CG approved. And has padding all the way around, but is still very comfortable. Plus it actually floats me worth a damn, unlike many outlaw vests.

lol - you must have seen me - my buddies and I do this all the time and these guys are excellent riders/tons of hours behind a boat. We board when the water is nice and fish off the swim step after that.

Hey we work really hard all year to learn our tricks. Of course I'm gonna throw it when I pass another boat. I'm not a wally, and I agree with most of these things, however I want people to actually see what I've been working on all year haha.

On another note...we see wallys at the lake all the time, and a lot of times when we go by them and throw a huge trick as we pass them, they get intimidated by us and leave to another part of the lake and we never see them again haha. I guess they feel like we know what we are doing and they don't want to get in our way or something.

Great comments and additions, i should add them and repost. People, it was meant to be funny so if any of you took it the wrong way i am sorry to have hurt your feelings. They were generalizations and i should have said none of them count when your kids are out learning i guess. Of course I am a wally too sometimes, and that was the best put comment of all, that when you have the knowledge to catch yourself doing wally things that is when you have graduated from being a wally. Also loved the one about surfing in a circle, that is so true and i forgot that! Same with expensive boats sitting in the coves, or riding down the highway showing all your cool bling. Cheers to all the wallys out there, they keep things interesting!

Regarding #18...............please feel free to throw your best trick as you pass my boat. I get it.

And HOW!
It's amazing how many guys just fall in behind the boat & don't bother to throw a damn thing when they go by.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hkysk8r187

On another note...we see wallys at the lake all the time, and a lot of times when we go by them and throw a huge trick as we pass them, they get intimidated by us and leave to another part of the lake and we never see them again haha. I guess they feel like we know what we are doing and they don't want to get in our way or something.

Yea, maybe. Although in our case (foil riders) I think it's the wakeboarders that just go away. A true wally will start following us around for the rest of the ride.

Your concerned with your social image and you actually took the time to post in the thread "Show us your tow vehicle".

this quote just shows that everyone has different motives and perceptions.

the sole and only reason i post in that thread is that i use a Jeep to tow my boat and it does a great job and a little over a year ago i was searching for a new car that would tow well. I wish at that time people would have posted something else than a semi truck for towing.

i enjoy seeing the different types of suv's and trucks with tow capacity, i never look at it as "look at my other toys im better than you" type stuff

Leaving your wife and kids in the boat tied to the inside of the launch ramp while you park or go get the truck and trailer. Is it not common sense to move your boat to the outside so the next guy can put his boat in? Theres always one of these!

I hate the term "Wally". I believe that there are two different types that fall into this category. There are the thousands of boaters out there that just don't have a clue and are slowly learning the rules of the game and then there are just the plain a-holes that don't care, who most of the above fall under.

I am very slow to label anyone a wally, as I've spent over 20 years involved in competitive water skiing at different levels, and I've accumulated a lot of knowledge over those years and don't think anyone should be labeled just because they don't know. I've seen many very good athletes, both skiers and wakeboarders, that could easily fall under the category of a wally listed above when it comes to knowledge in and around a lake. I've also seen many crappy wakeboarders/skiers that I'd love to have behind the wheel any time I was taking a set. My wakeboarding ability quit progressing when I was 15 and learned I just wasn't very talented at being upside down. So I'm probably that guy throwing the huge wake to wake jump going by your boat. Does that make me a wally? On the other hand, I ski about 3 times a year now and can run 32' off usually no sweat, but I fully appreciate the guy cruising by behind the I/O throwing up a giant wall of water. Does that make them a wally?

The only people that really agitate me on the water are those that have a clue and just don't care, whether it be jet skis running through the slalom course when they can clearly see you're setting up for a run or the guy on the ramp that just thinks his time is more important than yours.

For all of you out there that want to label someone a wally, maybe your goal should be to teach a boater something every time out, as most likely they will appreciate it. I have driven 1000s of hours behind the wheel of ski boats and even wake boats on tiny ski lakes where white knuckle moments happen all the time and would consider myself a very talented driver, but if someone could add a little knowledge, I'm not going to run away from it.

And to the poster that hates those that post pictures of your stuff, I hope they don't listen. That is one of the things that brings me back to this site. I love seeing what other people have done to their toys. I also don't understand the hate for those that buy expensive wake boats and use them mainly as cruisers. Do most guys that buy Corvettes race them? I doubt it. If I've got $90k to throw down and want to drive an X-Star to party cove, that's what I want to do. Very few runabouts are built to the quality of a wake/ski boat and none drive as well, so get what you want.

Most people drive their boats a fraction of the time they drive their cars,and controling a boat is harder than driving a car.Sooooooo there will ALWAYS be "wallys" HOWEVER,if you ever drive a boat you should learn the craft properly.

when I was a kid in surfer magazine there was a cartoon of "that" guy for surfing. His name was Wilbur Kookmeyer.

Maybe Wally is short for walleye, as in the fish, fish as in newbie? or frequent flyers at "wally-world". Just saying, never gave the name much thought.

I have more colorful names for the guy on the jetski that almost ran over my kid yesterday (while he was a downed rider) or the bass boat driver that almost hit me when I was landing on my wake (within 10ft of me coming up from behind), or the guy pulling a tube directly behind my 8yr old when he was wakeboarding.

I have been boating on lakes longer than I care to remember (bought my first boat in 1986) and have owned all types of boats from my current "Wally" special, a new RZ4, to 130 MPH Cats to plain ole runabouts.
I say this not to brag but to give a small history and perhaps lend a bit of credibility to what I now consider the TRUE Wallies of not only the wakeboat world, but probably the boating world in general:

1. People that cannot stand anyone, regardless of their age or work ethic, to have a nicer, newer, better boat than them because they wakeboard all the time.

2. People that have no desire to work hard (at all?) but wakeboard all the time on Daddy's money while whining about other people and/or their boats.

3. People that think think that just because they are better at wakeboarding than some people that they are automatically better than everyone.

4. People that wakeboard all day long with no consideration to others in the boat (girlfriends particularly, see this one all the time) and what they want to do.

5. People that spend so much time crticizing others the completely miss the fact that when they look in the mirror they are staring at a ********. (Deep down you know who you are!)

6. People that think there is NO other sport or water activity but wakeboarding in the world. (Remember just a few short years ago when surfing was looked down upon!!)

7. People who get on a website, sit behind a keyboard and tell everyone how they are "Wally's" when the REAL riders are probably out doing something like, oh I don't know.....RIDING! (I am definitely a Wally now..look out)

8. People that act like drunken idots with x-rated music cranked so loud that everyone on the lake hates them and anyone else that has a boat that looks like theirs.

9. People with inferiority complexes (or is it small package complex...you decide) that act like they are gods of the lake because they are "wakeboarders" and other people are actually having a blast doing whatever they want instead fitting an image.

OK, yes me and my family enjoy wakeboarding. No, we aren't pro's or even all that good. Yes, we also surf, tube, kneeboard, ski, and occasionally when the small kids beg enough, even do the the occasional *GASP!!!!* powerturn. (Oh my god, kill me now.)

I have been boating on lakes longer than I care to remember (bought my first boat in 1986) and have owned all types of boats from my current "Wally" special, a new RZ4, to 130 MPH Cats to plain ole runabouts.
I say this not to brag but to give a small history and perhaps lend a bit of credibility to what I now consider the TRUE Wallies of not only the wakeboat world, but probably the boating world in general:

1. People that cannot stand anyone, regardless of their age or work ethic, to have a nicer, newer, better boat than them because they wakeboard all the time.

2. People that have no desire to work hard (at all?) but wakeboard all the time on Daddy's money while whining about other people and/or their boats.

3. People that think think that just because they are better at wakeboarding than some people that they are automatically better than everyone.

4. People that wakeboard all day long with no consideration to others in the boat (girlfriends particularly, see this one all the time) and what they want to do.

5. People that spend so much time crticizing others the completely miss the fact that when they look in the mirror they are staring at a ********. (Deep down you know who you are!)

6. People that think there is NO other sport or water activity but wakeboarding in the world. (Remember just a few short years ago when surfing was looked down upon!!)

7. People who get on a website, sit behind a keyboard and tell everyone how they are "Wally's" when the REAL riders are probably out doing something like, oh I don't know.....RIDING! (I am definitely a Wally now..look out)

8. People that act like drunken idots with x-rated music cranked so loud that everyone on the lake hates them and anyone else that has a boat that looks like theirs.

9. People with inferiority complexes (or is it small package complex...you decide) that act like they are gods of the lake because they are "wakeboarders" and other people are actually having a blast doing whatever they want instead fitting an image.

OK, yes me and my family enjoy wakeboarding. No, we aren't pro's or even all that good. Yes, we also surf, tube, kneeboard, ski, and occasionally when the small kids beg enough, even do the the occasional *GASP!!!!* powerturn. (Oh my god, kill me now.)

Have fun boys and girls, because me and mine certainly will be!

X2 YOU SUMMED IT UP JOHN.It's all about having FUN,whatever it is your doing on the water.